The best shoulder exercises for building muscle in 2026, ranked with research: overhead press, lateral raises, rear delt flyes, with sets, reps and a plan.
The best shoulder exercises for building muscle in 2026 are the overhead press (dumbbell or barbell), the lateral raise, the rear delt fly, the wide-grip upright row, and the front raise. Build your shoulder training around one overhead press plus lateral raises, then add rear delt flyes. Aim for about 10 to 20 hard sets per week for the side and rear delts, mostly in the 8 to 15 rep range, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure.
Big shoulders come from training all three parts of the deltoid: the front, the side, and the rear. Most lifters already hit the front delts hard with bench press and push-ups. The side and rear delts are the ones that usually lag, and they are what make shoulders look wide from the front and full from the side.
This guide ranks the shoulder exercises with the best support from research, explains which part of the delt each one targets, and shows how to fit them into a weekly plan.
The best shoulder exercises for building muscle are the overhead press, the lateral raise, the rear delt fly, the wide-grip upright row, and the front raise. The overhead press and lateral raise do most of the work; the rear delt fly covers the back of the shoulder, and the last two are optional extras.
| Rank | Exercise | Main target | Best for | Typical reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overhead press (dumbbell or barbell) | Front and side delts, triceps | Heavy loading and long-term progression | 6-12 |
| 2 | Lateral raise (dumbbell or cable) | Side delts | Wider-looking shoulders | 10-20 |
| 3 | Rear delt fly (machine or dumbbell) | Rear delts | Balancing all the pressing you do | 10-20 |
| 4 | Wide-grip upright row | Side delts, upper traps | A heavier side delt option | 8-15 |
| 5 | Front raise | Front delts, upper chest | Extra front delt work, if needed | 10-15 |
The overhead press ranks first because it works the front and side delts together and lets you use the most weight of any shoulder exercise. In a 2020 study by Campos and colleagues, 13 trained men did 12 reps at 60% of their one-rep max on four exercises. The shoulder press produced the highest front delt activation, 33.3% of maximum, compared with 21.4% for the bench press, and it activated the side delts at 27.9%, close to the lateral raise.
Dumbbells or a barbell, seated or standing, all work. A 2013 study by Saeterbakken and Fimland tested 15 men and found the standing dumbbell press produced the highest deltoid activity, but it was also the weakest version: its one-rep max was about 10% lower than the seated dumbbell press. If you want to load the press heavily and progress it for months, a seated dumbbell or standing barbell press is the more practical choice.
Yes. Lateral raises are the most direct way to train the side delts, which pressing alone does not build much. In a 2024 study by Lanza and colleagues, 13 men trained the bench press for 10 weeks. Their chest, front delts, and triceps grew more than their side delts, which is why pressing alone rarely gives you wide shoulders.
In Campos 2020, the lateral raise produced the highest side delt activation of the four exercises tested, at 30.3% of maximum. Dumbbells and cables both work. A 2025 study by Larsen and colleagues trained 24 lifters with a dumbbell lateral raise on one arm and a cable lateral raise on the other, 5 sets twice a week for 8 weeks. Side delt thickness rose by 3.3 to 4.6%, and the two versions were similarly effective.
Technique matters more than the tool. A 2020 study by Coratella and colleagues in 10 competitive bodybuilders found higher side delt activation when the upper arm stayed in a neutral position than when it was rotated outward or the elbow was bent. Keep your arms close to straight, keep your thumbs from turning up toward the ceiling, and stop around shoulder height.
The rear delt fly is the best exercise for rear delts, on a reverse pec deck machine or with dumbbells while bent over. It isolates the back of the shoulder with little help from the chest or arms. A 2013 study by Schoenfeld and colleagues had 19 trained men do reverse flyes on a machine to failure with two grips. A neutral grip, palms facing each other, produced significantly more rear delt activity than a palms-down grip.
Rows and pull-ups also train the rear delts, so a good back routine already covers part of the job. Our guide to the best back exercises for building muscle shows how to pair rows with pulldowns.
Upright rows are a good side delt and upper trap exercise when done with a wide grip. A 2013 study by McAllister and colleagues tested 16 weight-trained men at three grip widths. Deltoid and trapezius activity rose as the grip got wider, and biceps activity fell, so the authors recommended a wide grip for the delts.
If upright rows pinch or ache at the top, drop them. Lateral raises train the same side delts and are easier on most shoulders.
Most lifters do not need front raises, because pressing already trains the front delts heavily. In Lanza 2024, front delt size increased after 10 weeks of bench press alone, and Campos 2020 found the overhead press activated the front delts more than any other exercise tested.
Front raises are still useful if your front delts lag or you cannot press overhead. Coratella 2020 found the front raise mainly activates the front delts and the upper chest.
A caveat for every EMG result here: higher muscle activation in a single session does not guarantee more growth over months. A 2018 review by Vigotsky and colleagues warned that conclusions about strength and hypertrophy drawn from EMG comparisons are often unsupported. That is why this ranking leans on the training studies where they exist.
Do about 10 to 20 hard sets per week for the side and rear delts, spread over at least two sessions. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found a graded dose-response between weekly sets and muscle growth, with each extra weekly set linked to a 0.37% larger gain in muscle size.
Your front delts need fewer direct sets if you already bench press and overhead press each week. Use 6 to 12 reps on presses and 10 to 20 reps on lateral raises and rear delt flyes, stopping most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure. Our guide on how many sets per week to build muscle explains how to count sets from compound lifts.
A good shoulder workout pairs one overhead press with lateral raises and finishes with rear delt flyes, for 8 to 10 total sets. Run it once or twice a week, or spread the exercises across your push and pull days:
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Seated dumbbell or standing barbell overhead press | 3 × 6-10 | 2-3 min |
| Dumbbell or cable lateral raise | 3-4 × 12-20 | 60-90 s |
| Rear delt fly (machine or dumbbell) | 3 × 12-20 | 60-90 s |
If you also train chest, our best chest exercises for building muscle guide covers the incline press, which adds more front delt work.
Keep making progress with double progression: stay at a weight until you hit the top of your rep range on every set, then add the smallest jump available. On lateral raises and rear delt flyes, a 5 lb jump is a big share of a light dumbbell, so use a wide rep range and add reps for longer before moving up.
Alexandros is an iPhone app that works like a personal lifting coach you talk to. You log a session in plain English, like "lateral raises 3x15 with the 20s, last set hard," rate how each set felt, and it tells you the weight and reps for next time using double progression and realistic jumps: 5 lb (2 kg) per hand on dumbbells and about one pin on cables. Ask how your overhead press is going and it answers with charts of your top weight, estimated 1RM, and volume, computed from your own log. Alexandros is in early access; its terms say certain features require a paid subscription through the App Store.
The overhead press, with dumbbells or a barbell. It trains the front and side delts together and produced the highest front delt activation of four exercises in a 2020 study by Campos and colleagues.
Both work about equally. A 2025 study by Larsen and colleagues found similar side delt growth from dumbbell and cable lateral raises over 8 weeks.
Either builds muscle. Saeterbakken and Fimland (2013) found more deltoid activity standing with dumbbells, but a heavier one-rep max seated, so pick the version you can load and progress most consistently.
Two or three is enough for most lifters: one overhead press, one lateral raise, and a rear delt fly. More exercises rarely help if your weekly sets are already 10 to 20.
About twice a week works well for most people. Side and rear delts recover quickly from light, high-rep sets, so you can also add a few lateral raise sets to other upper-body days.
